


Ultra Mini-Turbo Into My Heart

by legendofthefireemblem



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Twitch Streamers, M/M, Speedrunning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29298162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legendofthefireemblem/pseuds/legendofthefireemblem
Summary: In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, an Ultra Mini-Turbo can be achieved by drifting long enough for the sparks under your car to turn pink.The key to speedrunning Mario Kart is knowing just when to start your drifts to gain the most optimal boost.And being fast of course.Luckily for him, George knows how to do both.
Relationships: Alexander Albon/George Russell
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20
Collections: F1 Soup Kitchen Chocolate Box 2021





	Ultra Mini-Turbo Into My Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ambiguouspace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguouspace/gifts).



> From the moment I read your prompts, I had my heart set on this one. As someone who devours speedrunning content, I was super excited to bring to life an AU I had already partially imagined in my head. There’s a fine line between keeping the jargon accurate and overwhelming people with Twitch emotes monkaS.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this Ultra Mini-Turbo coloured Valentine’s gift. Valentine’s day is for love and friendship, all of which is stored in the soup <3

"Alright guys, thanks so much for showing up today. We're going to have a quick ad break while I look for a raid target."

The chat goes wild as viewers report on the types of ads they got. George can't help but chuckle as he looks over to see that someone got the elusive Hungrybox ad. He sets his gaze back on the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! category. Once the ad reports stop coming in, he starts the raid.

"It looks like someone's speedrunning All Cup Tour! Let’s raid 2Al3x with a classic FrankerZ, okay?" George types the emote in chat, watching with excitement as others copy and paste the emote. "Thanks so much for tuning in, next stream is on Friday — we’re doing something new!"

A few people, led by his head moderator Nicky, post various messages thanking him for the stream adorned with heart emotes and banana peels.

George delights in posting a simple <3 to the chat before the raid finally takes place and they land on 2Al3x's Twitch page. Immediately, the chat fills up with FrankerZs and "Geor63 raid!!".

The runner doesn't lose focus as he twists to read the raid notification. "Wow, thanks Geor-six-three for the 780 viewer raid! How did your stream go?" He can hear 2Al3x's smile in his voice.

George can't help but smile back, despite the lack of face-cams on both sides. _'Went well.'_ He types into the chatbox. _'Got a new PB in All Cups Skips for Mario 64.'_

"Congrats! I just got a new PB myself, in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe."

_'200cc or 150cc?'_

"200cc of course!" 2Al3x's laugh is contagious and George can feel his smile grow even wider. "What's the point of speedrunning if you're not going as fast as possible?"

George watches as the chat slows down, raiders from his stream leaving. Even though this is normally the period of time where he checks up on his Discord and gets started on editing videos for YouTube, he can't bring himself to leave the stream. 2Al3x is a genuinely compelling streamer, charming in his tone, laughter and frequent audience interaction.

It's on the third raid that he realizes he's being played.

"Alright, it looks like 2Al3x just went live," he comments to his stream. "I think he's baiting us now." He bites his lip and laughs. "Well, let's give him what he wants. The raid message for today is BadShroom raid bait."

A face-cam greets them when they raid 2Al3x's stream, showing his face in full 480p glory. George ups the stream quality to 1080p60. 2Al3x smiles, swivelling on his gaming chair. "Welcome, Geor63 raiders!" George watches with baited breath as 2Al3x reads the chat. "BadShroom raid bait??" He shakes his head. "And I was going to show you guys my cat this time."

The chat immediately goes wild, George can't help but let out an indignant sound as his own viewers throw him under the bus for a chance to see 2Al3x's cat. Soon the chat is overflowing with 'cat cam catJAM' copypasta.

"Alright, alright, I'll show him. Just give me a second." 2Al3x stands up and leaves the view of the camera. PauseChamps fill the chat. 2Al3x reappears, cradling a black-striped, brown and white cat. He settles down on the chair, arranging himself to show the cat to the camera. "This is Horsey." The chat erupts in 'HORSEYYYYYY' and 'cat' spam. "Well, really, his name is Stan, but we all call him Horsey." He sets him down on the ground. "That's enough of him for now. How about some Mario Kart 8 Deluxe?"

With the selection of the game mode, 2Al3x leads into colourful commentary of a 200cc 32 tracks run. Each track completion time is faster than before, showing up in gold numbers compared to the times of his personal best. George leans in closer and closer with each split. Every nailed trick, every time save has his breath catching in his throat.

"I got it! Sub 1:10!!!" 2Al3x's laugh is full of happiness and disbelief. "New PB!"

The chat fills up with animated dancing emotes. George's eyes are drawn to his Nintendo Switch, mostly abandoned next to the monitor.

He puts in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe cartridge and turns it on.

* * *

"Welcome raiders!" George says the instant he hears the raid notification. "Thank you-" he narrows his eyes at the username in bold. "Thank you 2Al3x for the 56 viewer raid. How did your stream go?" The raid message already spoils the answer for him, blue shell emotes surrounding 'Sub 1:05'.

_'new PB: 1:04.54'_

"No milliseconds?" Teases George.

_'.140'_

George spilts the time upon finishing Rainbow Road. The numbers are red.

_'you speedrun 8 Deluxe?'_

"Yeah, these are my old splits from when the game first came out." And he's still losing to them.

_'cool. race sometimes?'_

George feels his heart leap into his throat. "Yeah, send me a DM on Discord and we'll sort something out."

* * *

[do you know any good mods? chat gets overrun now that I have more viewers]

[Ask Nicky. He knows everything about Mario Kart and mods like half the streams. I'm sure he'd be happy to do it.]

[thanks]

* * *

"Alright, don't usually end the first run of the day in a PB but I quite like it." George leans back in his chair, ignoring the small creak. "1:05.13 - we're getting close to cracking the top 50." He swings his legs around. "Let's go for another one."

He doesn't make any improvement for the rest of the stream. He raids a Mario Kart 64 stream at the request of his viewers, it's a bigger streamer than Alex- 2Al3x's, but she's just barely reached Twitch Partner status and gushes over the hundreds of viewers he brings.

George glances at his phone. Alex has sent him a Discord message. They're going to race at the end of the month, but George feels thoroughly outclassed despite being the more experienced speedrunner.

George puts his phone down and picks up his Switch again.

* * *

Nicky commentates their race — well, when Alex isn't adding in descriptions of the tricks and shortcuts he's currently doing. Looking back on it, he can't quite remember any details about it: nothing about receiving 20 gift subs from Alex, nothing from Nicky's apparently insinuating side comments, and nothing about the sub one-hour finish time.

He rewatches the VOD of that race ten times over the next week, taking in every detail. Alex throwing back taunting replies to his poking banter. Alex laughing at Nicky's jokes. The way Alex's eyebrows furrowed when he was trying to pull off a tough shortcut.

[Hey, maybe we should try doing a two player, one controller run.]

[let me beat you in a race first, then let's talk]

George wins the next race.

Alex still messages him back.

[same time next month]

[Alright.]

* * *

"I can't believe it."

George doesn't mind wasting a couple seconds to glance at the race stream. 58.23 flashes on the Twitch overlay. 

Alex has won. Finishing the race is a formality, but George has never been one to fall short. He crawls past the finish line at 1:02.23. The chat is scrolling too quickly to read, so George heads immediately to the Subscribe button on Alex's stream. His wallet may hurt, but his pride doesn't as he gifts 100 subs to Alex's stream. They had upped the ante at George's own request and now that Alex was a Twitch Partner, he could afford to "invest a little more back into the community".

"Congrats Alex," he states, glad that the Discord call doesn't transmit the hitch in his voice. "That's a top ten time."

"Number six." Alex immediately corrects him.

"Top six time."

"I'm not going to apologize for pushing you out of the top twenty."

George laughs. "Well I'm not going to apologize when I push you out of the top ten."

"I'd like to see you try."

And try he does. 

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe doesn’t agree with him the same way 64 does — the drifts are more precise but the shortcuts less so and there’s a dent in his right thumb that perfectly matches the shape of a Nintendo Switch button.

He still can't get a time below 59 minutes.

Alex sends him his personal tips, everything from timings for tricks to the colour of all his turbo boosts. It doesn't help.

George takes a break from speedrunning Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

He goes back to 64, with its red E's that mark drifting. He can't help but miss the pink Ultra Mini-Turbo sparks of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Two weeks into his abstinence, Alex sends him a DM.

[want to do 8D 200cc 32tracks 2p1c at ESA this summer?]

[Oh God yes.]

* * *

If they kiss in the hotel room after getting World Record (it still counts even if they’re the only ones to run that category), it doesn't matter, everyone else is too drunk to care.

After all, what happens at speedrunning assemblies stays at speedrunning assembies. 


End file.
